Page:Baseball Joe on the School Nine.djvu/136

 CHAPTER XV

A STRANGE DISCOVERY

"Three cheers for Excelsior Hall!" cried Captain Elmer Dalton of the Morningside team. "All ready boys, with a will!"

The cheers were deafening and perhaps they were all the more hearty because it was the winning nine and its supporters who were giving them.

The crowd swarmed over the diamond, players and spectators mingling. Everybody was talking at once, the losing side and their supporters trying to explain how the defeat had come about, and the victors exulting in their victory.

"I don't see what's the matter with you fellows, anyhow," growled Hiram, as he strode over and joined the little group of disconsolate ones who were walking toward the dressing room. "You ought to have beaten 'em."

"And so we would have if they'd given me decent support," broke in Luke. "There were too many changes on the team." 124